Improvement in roofing-felt



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WILLIAM B. GOATES, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR FOR ONE-HALFHIS RIGHT TO'JOSEPH LEEDS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROOFING-FELT.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part 0! thesamr To all whom it may concern Be it known that I,\V[LLIA.\[ l3.COATES, of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Roofing-Felts; and I dohereby declare the-following t-o-be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same.

The object of my invention is to make the various roofing-felts nowknown more valuable and better adapted to the purpose of turning rain orsnow-water than they proved to be in actual use, and to make themsuperior non-comluctors of heat.

The nature of myinveution consists in applying a properly-preparedsizing to the upper and lower sides .and edges of roofing-felts, and,after it dries, a coat of some good carbon paint, with as much fine drysand spriuklcdover the paint as the latter, will hold; also, a wash of.lime, white or colored, with pigments to suit the'fancy, prepared so asnot to rcadil y come oii, to be put on after the sand is perfectly dry.

Il'iOIdel' toenable others skilled in the art to make and use anyinvention I will proceed to. describe the same. I

The oonnnou fcltings are h 'Jle to become rough and somewhat flimsy fromfrequent handling and transportation, and-this rough usage leads to apartial separation of the fibers composing the material, and occasions atendency to leak when put on roofs that are unusually flat, and evenwhen painted are not generally deprived of their objectionable feature.{There are large numbers of personswho would like to use the felts forroofing, if assured tbattthoy could rely upon them to turn snow-waterand be of satisfactory utility.

After repeated experiments I have proved that the felts can be muchimproved and rendered next to slate, double-cross tin; or cedarshingles, in durability.

The manner of accomplishing this will depend, somewhat, upon the qualityof the felts and the jlu gment of those who may carry out my ideas.

Though the success of my invention does not exactly depend upon aperfectly correct proportion of ingredients in the sizing, or thethickness of the coats of paint and sand or washes, yet, to prevent anymisunderstanding, I will be exact in my description in regard to therequisite details of preparation and the manner of accomplishing mypurposes;

The felting is first carefully examined, as none but good and perfectgoods should be used, and is then ready for sizin g This can be done insmall quantities, by hand, and using a wide brush or in largequantities, by macbinery.

The main object of sizing is to keep the paint on the surface and act asa base for other coats; wit-hont it the paints sink into the feltingsand seem to disappear. v

I make the sizing of wheat or rye flour and water, in the proportion ofone quarter of a pound, inoreor less, of wheat or rye flour to onegallon of water, and it sliouldboil, wlthout burning, for ten minutes;when done, strain it through a coarse bag.

Next, take one-half ounce, more or less, of good glue, and boil it inone quart of water for fifteen minutes,strain it, and mix well with theboiled flour or rye.

They can be prepared iu lukewarm or cold water to answer as well, butthe glue should remain till dissolved, and the wheat or rye flour, tenminutes.

' In these proportions, and in either manner, any

quantity of sizing can be made.

The felts are run through the sizing by means of proper machinery, quiterapidly, so as not 'to absorb too large a quantity, and are then dried.

lfa small lot of felting is required, the sizing can be put on withahaml-brnsh.

In covering the felting with a coat of paint a handbrush can be usedfor. small lots or machinery for large qnantitcs.

The machinery used is quite simple, consisting of a. vat with a slidingroller near the lower part, inside, and two gummed rollers .atthe top.

One end of the felting is put under the lower roller and brought upthrough the top rollers.

The sizing is put in a vat of this construction, the paint in a second,-and the washes in others. Each rat is half filled.

'Ihc felts are made in one continuous piece by soouring them at theends, and are forced through each preparation by turning the tworollers; first, theycan be sized and dried, then run through the paint,brought over a fourth roller \vithinra box, where they are sprinkledwell on every part with fine sand, and when dry, can have a second coat,or more, of paint and sand, or run through the third vat, and finishedwith-whitewash or fancy ,washes.

I propose and intend running the felts, after being covered with eitherof the above washes and dried, through a preparation, as follows:

'lwo ounces of white giue, dissolved in warm water, say one gallon, andhalf a pound of white flour, mixed raw, in one gallon of water,strained, to hold or fix the washes.

The whitewash is made by slakiug lime in the proportion of one quarterof a peck to a bucket of warm water, strain it, and mix in it thefollowing prepara-- tion: glue, half an ounce, more or less, dissolvedin" a quart of warm 'water, stir in the glue-water one ounce, more orless, of raw wheat flour, and, i-ffaney colors are desired, use variouspigments.

As soon as the wash is dry, the prepared felts can he rolled-in long orshortpieces, at pleasure, bound in wrappers, and is then ready for saleand use.

By these varions.coats. the ordinary felts are protected andstrengthened, and rendered not only more lasting, but proof against allsparks or coals of fire.

The coats fill up all the small holes in the felts and transform theminto an external mineral substance better able to resist snow-water andfrost. They are rendered a better non-oomluetor of heat, while the whiteor othercolored washgives the roofs a more vbeautiful appearance.

Another-advantage is that all dirt arising'froin the wo kmen trackingpaintfrom the roofs down through a tidy house is entirely prevented.

The-price. at which this improved felting can be furnished wilt be lessthan the present cost of twice painting the felts when on the roofs.

The felts are put on roofs with a lap of two inches at the joints.

I do not desire, at present, to claim the machinery IshalLnse inpreparing the roofing-felts.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-- The preparation of rooting-felts by the process of sizing, carbonpainting, sanding, white or color wash- .ing, aud fixingthe washes, asfully set forth and deseribed in the foregoingspecitication, as a newarticle of manufiicture'.

' WILLIAM B. OOATES. Witnesses:

J OSEPH LnEn's, J. o'HN l} .HOUGHTON.

